Campus Reform Connects Alabama’s Latest Campus Changes to AIM’s Investigation
September 2, 2026
University of Alabama closes Intercultural Center
James Petruzzi ’29 | Campus Correspondent
September 2, 2026, 11:00 am ET
The University of Alabama (UA) closed its Intercultural Center over the summer and replaced the space with the “REAL Tide Engagement Commons.”
Students were not directly notified of the closure. The center’s phone number was disconnected and its website was removed.
University spokesperson Alex House told The Crimson White that employees who worked at the center “transitioned to other available positions or chose to leave UA voluntarily.”
The center first opened in 2016 as the Intercultural Diversity Center and moved into the Student Center in 2020. The university renamed it the Intercultural Center in 2024 after closing its Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
That restructuring followed Alabama Senate Bill 129, which restricts Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and the promotion of certain “divisive concepts” at public universities.
UA has made other changes since the law took effect. The university renamed its Women and Gender Resource Center the Camellia Center and removed references to gender from its mission.
The Crimson White also reported that the university closed the Frances S. Summersell Library and removed its webpage.
The closure comes after Accuracy in Media released an undercover recording in June featuring Shemaiah Kenon, then an assistant director of the Intercultural Center.
“When I read the draft of the bill, people were calling me like, ‘This is blasphemy.’ I said it’s actually stupid because I found some holes,” Kenon said in the recording.
Kenon also said that “most of our faculty and staff are progressive.”